MOVING BEYOND SUPER TUESDAY WITH
SCIENCECURES.ORG
FASEB has launched
ScienceCures.org, an exciting new voter
education initiative aimed at raising the
profile of federal funding for biomedical
research among the presidential candidates and
the general public.
“When
Presidential candidates are making speeches or
answering questions about health and health
care, we want to make sure that the National
Institutes of Health and medical research are an
integral part of that discussion,” said Robert
Palazzo, Ph.D., FASEB President.
“Federal
funding of biomedical research should be a high
priority for the nation in 2008 and beyond.”
ScienceCures.org provides scientists and
supporters with
tools to call on our leaders to reinvigorate
national investment in scientific research.
Through
the website, researchers and members of the
public can contact the candidates,
write letters to their local media outlets,
sign a pledge to educate candidates and
elected officials about the importance of
federal funding of research, and even register
to vote. The site also links to up-to-the minute
information about the campaigns and to the
results of the primaries and caucuses. The site
includes a number of resources emphasizing the
benefits of biomedical research, including a
number of interactive features that provide key
facts about medical research at both the
national and local levels.
Throughout
2008, FASEB will continue to add new information
and features to the site as the race to the
White House moves forward.
HOUSE FRESHMAN BRIEFING
On Wednesday, January 23,
2008, FASEB, the American Cancer Society’s
Cancer Action
Network, the American Heart Association
and the Alzheimer’s Association partnered with
Representative Tim Walz’s (D-MN) office to
sponsor a briefing for the Democratic Freshman
class on how NIH impacts our nation’s health.
Congressman Walz is President of the Democratic
Freshman class and represents the greater Rochester, MN
area, which includes the Mayo Clinic.
The idea for this briefing
originated during Leo Furcht’s term as President
of FASEB, when FASEB’s Office of Public Affairs
staff visited Congressman Walz’s office to
discuss the importance of NIH research to the
country, as well as to many of Congressman
Walz’s own constituents.
The meeting was a tremendous
success. Eleven members of Congress
participated in the briefing and staffers filled
the room.
Participants from NIH
included:
• Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni,
Director, National Institute
of Health
• Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel,
Director of the National
Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute
• Dr. John E.
Niederhuber, Director of the National
Cancer
Institute
• Dr. Richard Hodes, Director of the National
Institute on Aging
NIH
President Dr. Elias Zerhouni
briefs several
Representatives
and congressional staffers on The
Hill.
TOP OF PAGE
FARM BILL INCHES TOWARD CONFERENCE
Although both the House and
Senate have passed their versions of the Farm
Bill, conference proceedings have begun amidst a
showdown with the White House over tax
provisions in the bill.
President Bush has threatened to veto
both versions of the Farm Bill because of
revenue they would generate via what he terms
tax increases or via what Senate Agriculture
Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) calls the closing of
tax loopholes.
Meanwhile, FASEB has sent
letters to all Senate conferees (the House
has not yet named conferees), urging them to
support the formation of the National Institute
of Food and Agriculture, which would provide for
fundamental agricultural research within the
USDA, and requesting the removal of language
that would eliminate Class B dog and cat
dealers, which supply non-purpose bred animals
for research.
As part of the FY2008 Omnibus, the Senate
Appropriations Committee included language
calling on NIH to commission an independent
study examining Class B animals in biomedical
research, an action that FASEB supports.
NIH recently released it response to the
Appropriators, announcing its intention to seek
an independent review by the National Academies’
Institute for Laboratory Animal Research on not
only Class B animals but also on all dogs and
cats scientists use in research.
TOP OF PAGE
PAGE 1 |
PAGE 2 |
PAGE 3
GO BACK TO FEBRUARY 08,
WASHINGTON UPDATE |
